[And, in theory, I’m currently captain of it – well, what’s left of it anyway.]
I see that the (at times) heated discussion regarding what Uru / Myst Online was, is, and will be has spilled over to MystBlogs.
As to what my opinions are about the whole thing – I don’t have any (that I intend to directly disclose anyway). I took the ‘Honor’ in the old Honor Guard rather seriously, and always felt it was a community construct, connecting the players to common causes despite their expected differences (and regardless of the cause – as long as it was non-IC or relatively so).
I still feel that way, so it’s not in my best interest to discuss my feelings about the current discussion – other than to be a bit miffed about placing folks in this ‘old guard/new guard’ pigeonhole (gives my old role here a bad name ;) ).
I’m going to be very frank though – I really started getting deeply involved with Uru when Pepsi died (damn, it still chokes me up when I think about that). I realized then that I could care a lot about someone I almost never knew, despite seeing the occasional post on a forum here and there. In that respect I ‘got’ the community bug big time, and dedicated myself to promote this rather odd, supposedly dead game that just won’t die.
My ‘Alan Kiesler’ avatar/account in SL is a prime example of that dedication – a lot of what I did back then was geared toward showing folks there the uniqueness of the Myst/Uru experience in general, and getting another network of friends in the process (back then I was hedging my bets in case the UU experiment failed to take off). And my dedication and duty as an Honor Guard – and later Color Guard Captain – was another.
Right now (with enough of a ‘heads up’ via PM/email), if any community/guild/Cyantist pointed me in a direction you wanted me to appear in the Cavern, for any community-minded reason, I’ll be there (barring work obligations of course). And if you REALLY give me enough time, I may be able to drum up an actual group under the ‘Guard’ banner for better coverage. However, regular Cavern visits are just not possible anymore for me and my rather weird and wild schedule; My time is best served nowadays ‘offline,’ here in weblogs, forums, and (hopefully again) Age Building tools.
I care about the people in Uru – ALL OF THEM – and will stand watch no matter what happens over time.
/salute
–TSK